29 Weeks – EDC 28/05/13

Saturday, 16 March 2013 (Day 4)

I have quite a few things to update on. I hope I remember them all.

I’ve been taking iron tablets for the iron deficiency. I take them with orange juice, and I try to avoid eating calcium for two hours before and after. Ideally, I wouldn’t eat any other foods that inhibit iron absorption (like wheat products, magnesium, eggs) for the same time, however I found that taking iron tablets on an empty stomach leads to nausea. However, there have been studies that show that drinking orange juice counteracts the effects of the cereals on the iron. I then take the rest of my supplements (pregnancy multivitamin and magnesium) two hours later. I normally drink this with a glass of Benefibre to offset the other side affect of taking iron, constipation.

 

I’ve been getting rather uncomfortable, especially if I try and sit on the couch. My bump doesn’t fit in the gap anymore, and it makes it hard to breath and hurts anything it pushes on. I got Brad to pump up the fit ball, and I’ve found this helps with all matter of ails. It’s soft on my butt, but gives my tummy room, and I can move my hips around if my back gets sore. I’ve also found relaxing benefit in kneeling on the floor with my head on the ball.

I’m now sleeping with four pillows at night, as I now need two under my head. I guess with the baby bracing my middle, I’m not compressing like I used to, and trying to lie half on my belly gives me round ligament pain. So, I have two pillows under my head, and the other two pillows form a body pillow under my bump and the top leg. With the change of seasons, I’m struggling a little with maintaining a comfortable body temperature, as I find that my neck gets really hot while my shoulders are getting cool. Trying to keep my shoulders warm while not stopping the release of heat from my neck is almost impossible.

I’m also still suffering from heartburn, but I’m able to easily control it during the day by eating almonds. I also have a roll of Quickeze beside my bed for those night time attacks. My stomach is starting to protest larger meals, so I’m having to adjust to smaller meals again, the difference being that this time I’m not eating small meals because I feel sick in the first place. When I eat, I’m ravenous, but eating until I’m full normally means I feel very uncomfortable for several hours afterwards. My digestive system is also being moved around again, and until that settles again, I will feel very uncomfortable.

Seeing as we (my husband and I) haven’t been on a holiday since August/September 2011, and my husband’s boss was nice enough to insist that hubby takes next week off pretty much specifically for a “babymoon”, we decided to take him up on his offer and will be going for a nice relaxing trip to Port Macquarie next week. I’m quite excited about this.

 

On a funny note, hubby and I went to Hungry Jacks for lunch today. I went and chose a seat like I normally do, and I decided to choose a booth. It’s obviously been a while since I tried to sit in a booth, because I discovered that this would probably be the last time I sit in a booth until I deliver as my bump was just millimetres from the table in front of me L

Sunday, 17 March 2013 (Day 5)

I’ve decided not to go with the student midwife, as the choice didn’t feel right in the end for me.

It seems that I’m returning to the time of the morning snooze. If I snooze in the afternoon, I end up waking up more tired and grumpy than when I went down for my nap, whereas in the mornings the latest I will wake up is for lunch, and then I still have the afternoon.

The baby has been doing lots of stretches and making its presence felt in my stomach. Those pushes are starting to get a mite painful at times. I can’t imagine what it will all feel like once s/he runs out of room.

 

 

28 Weeks – EDC 28/05/13

Tuesday, 5 March 2013

So, third trimester today! Wow! I can report that I seem to be experiencing extreme tiredness, which I will report to my midwife if it continues until my appointment on Friday. I will be finding out at this appointment the results from blood tests that were taken two weeks ago, so it is possible that my iron levels are low or something like that.

Thursday, 7 March 2013 (Day 2)

So, I’m experiencing a number of “complaints”. My back has been hurting when I go to bed, which is nothing new because I used to occasionally have a sore back when I went to bed before I became pregnant. I have been treating it by making sure that my hips are parallel, with the help of a pillow. However, I have been noticing over the last two nights that my bump is also sore. It’s not just a stretching sore feeling, where the bump is hanging and needs support so it doesn’t hurt. It also hurts when I rest it on a pillow, at the point where I’m resting it on the pillow. Combine this with restless leg syndrome, and getting comfortable at night is extremely difficult. This is when I am lying down, but I get a whole new set of “complaints” when I’m sitting.

When I’m sitting, if I recline I find it hard to breath. This has been a problem for a while, so I tend to sit leaning forward which is actually a good thing at this stage of pregnancy for making sure the baby gets into the best possible position for labour. However, my bump doesn’t fit between my legs anymore, and it hurts when it rests on my legs because it presses on my bladder, making me feel like I also constantly need to pee. I have experienced a few of the dribble trips to the loo, and I am trying to make myself wait until I’m sure I need to pee before I go, to try and save on bad habits that could continue after pregnancy. Unfortunately, or fortunately depending on how you look at it, the urge to pee often goes away when I walk around, so I can feel the need to pee many times before I actually need to go.

Friday, 8 March 2013 (Day 3)

So it turns out there’s a reason for my tiredness, and it’s an obvious one. My iron levels are a little low, but I’m not anaemic. I’ve been told to take some Iron, Vitamin C and some magnesium (to help with the restless legs). Apparently chocolate contains magnesium as well – random fact for the day – but that doesn’t mean that I can go nuts on it. In fact, I’m supposed to limit my sugar and carbohydrate intake. Other than that, all is good. My Anti-D injection didn’t even hurt, and I may be getting a student midwife to assist in my birth (in addition to the two qualified midwives that will be assisting in my birth).

 

Silouhette taken 10/03/13 (28 weeks + 5 days)

 

27 Weeks – EDC 28/05/13

Tuesday, 26 February 2013

 

27 weeks today! Only 1 more week until my third trimester starts! I am more excited than ever to be getting closer to meeting our baby, especially since I just spent the week getting to know the most delightful 18 month old toddler and gleaning nuggets of wisdom from her mother.
 

Saturday, 2 March 2013 (Day 4)

 

I am now 6 months pregnant, so we’re on the home stretch. I also lost a kilo this week, so chasing around a toddler for a week clearly has its weight loss benefits.

 

On Thursday, I put some bookshelves on layby at Big W.  This leaves two large items of furniture to be purchased for the nursery: a nursing chair and some drawers. I’m thinking about buying an executive office chair as my nursing chair, and I’m unsure as to whether I will get a proper set of wooden drawers or buy a set of wire drawers that would go in the cupboard.

 

Hopefully my stroller will be dispatched on Monday, as well as my latest maternity bra purchases. Both of these were supposed to be dispatched two Monday’s ago, however both had supplier issues and were delayed. I can’t wait for the stroller to arrive so that I can play with it.
 

Taken 3/03/13

 

Monday, 4 March 2013 (Day 6)

 

With the impending start of my third trimester, I am noticing a return to first trimester behaviours. I am feeling very drained and tired at the moment, but this could be attributed to the constant cloudy and rainy weather we’ve been having for the last two weeks. As a result of this tiredness, I am also feeling more moody, with a small amount of frustration. The nesting instinct is kicking in, but I just don’t quite have the energy to follow it through some days. My happy thought of the day is that on Wednesday, we will be half way through our six week antenatal course.